Offering Singaporeans the best way to pay

AMONG the many lofty goals that Singapore has set for itself over the past half a century, perhaps one of the most ambitious is its desire to become a truly cashless society. Helping the nation rid itself of cumbersome coins and notes over the years has been global payment technology firm Visa. Singapore's vision is closely aligned to Visa's own of being the best way to pay and be paid, for everyone everywhere.

"The Singapore government has an ambitious roadmap for becoming a smart nation in 10 years and is committed to accelerating the move to a cashless economy. Visa is especially excited about the future of digital payments in Singapore.

"We have been working on numerous projects including promoting e-commerce and contactless payments that will help enhance the payment experience for consumers in Singapore," says Ooi Huey Tyng, Visa's country manager for Singapore and Brunei.

The move towards cashless transactions has been given a leg up by the rise of Internet shopping in Singapore. With the highest smartphone and Internet usage in this region, it is no surprise that consumers here are among the top online shoppers in South-east Asia.

In fact, e-commerce is growing three times faster than traditional transactions and almost half of consumers who shop virtually are paying with their mobile devices, according to research by Visa.

To cater to this surge in digital retail therapy, Visa will be launching Visa Checkout - a new payment service that will make online shopping faster and easier for consumers, says Ms Ooi.

Currently, when Singapore consumers shop online, one in three transactions are abandoned for a variety of reasons, including not being able to make payment. Visa hopes to reduce this rate of abandonment with its new system.

"Consumers no longer need to leave the merchant site or re-enter their payment, shipping and billing details when making online purchases using Visa Checkout. Furthermore, this service can be used across multiple platforms and devices such as online, mobile and in-app payments on smartphone, PC or tablets," explains Ms Ooi.

In the US, where Visa Checkout was launched more than a year ago, research findings show that customers completed transactions 22 per cent faster than those using a merchant's traditional checkout process.

There are more than 240 financial institution partners in the United States, Canada and Australia that have implemented Visa Checkout and Visa will be bringing this service to Singapore in the next few months.

Visa Checkout is the latest in a series of innovative payment systems introduced by Visa, the world's largest retail electronic payments network. The company is ranked as the world's fifth most valuable brand - with a brand value of US$91.9 billion.

The global company connects consumers, businesses, banks and governments in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay area, it has nearly 10,000 employees around the world, with more than 1,000 in Singapore.

A track record of innovation

Visa can trace its roots back to 1958, when the Bank of America launched BankAmericard, the first consumer credit card programme available to middle-class consumers in the US. In the 1970s, BankAmericard became an independent entity that was eventually united under the global brand - Visa.

Today, Visa has built one of the world's most advanced processing networks, capable of handling more than 56,000 transactions per second. Last year, its global network processed an astounding 64.9 billion transactions worth a whopping US$7.3 trillion.

The company started its operations in Singapore in 1981. With its rapid growth, openness and pro-business environment, Singapore has become one of Visa's most important markets in the Asia-Pacific.

Visa has led the way in developing and growing the payments infrastructure in Singapore, helping the country become the leader in the region for payments technology and innovation.

Its innovations here include proximity (face-to-face) payments through Visa payWave, peer-to-peer payments through Visa Direct and enabling digital payments through Visa Token Service.

In fact, Singapore is one of the first major markets to embrace Visa payWave, with 30 per cent of all Visa card transactions in Singapore now contactless. Indeed, two in three Visa transactions at supermarkets across the island are using Visa payWave, reveals Ms Ooi.

McDonald's rolled out payWave in December last year, and by February, over 120 of its outlets across Singapore had the system. Since then, one in 10 Visa transactions were contactless at the fast food restaurant chain.

"We will continue to introduce new merchant categories such as more quick service restaurants and food courts to increase the usage of contactless payments," she says.

Singapore is also an important base for Visa in the development, testing and adoption of payment innovations. For example, at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, Singapore became the first in the world to launch an all-in-one Visa Prepaid card incorporating event ticketing, transit payment and prepaid payment features.

Regarding Singapore's transformation into a global powerhouse, Ms Ooi says: "The next 50 years will be challenging but Singapore is well positioned to realise its vision of becoming a Smart Nation by embracing innovation, investing in technology and evolving both business and regulatory environments to promote innovation.

"Visa is especially excited about the future of digital payments in Singapore. We see Singapore as an important test bed for innovation in the future and want to help the nation realise its vision of becoming a regional leader in innovation."